Vending-machine.



o. 1. `HOTALING. VENDINGk MACHINE., APPLICATION FILED NOV. I3. I9I3.

Patented Apr, 13, 1915.

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IIIQ' 0.*1.' HOTALING. VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 13, ma.

Patented Apr., 13, 1915.

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0,. I. v"HOTALINQ. VENDING MACHINE 'APPLICATION FILED NOV. ISI/1913.

r l si "lili OMAR J. HOTALING", OF RUTHERFORD, NEW JRSEY.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 13, 1913. Seria! No. 800,762.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that LyOMAR J. HOTALING, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Rutherford, in the county of Bergen and Stateof NewJersey, have invented a` new and lmproved Vending-Machine, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to machines for vending Ior dispensingnewspapers, periodicals, sheet materials and similar articles, and

has reference more particularly to a machine of this class in which isprovided a movable article-support so arranged that the displacement ofthe articles from the support is gravitationally resisted, whereby thetopmost article ofthe number on the support can readily be dispensed bysliding it from the next one thereunder, without tending to displace thelast-mentioned article.

The invention further relates to a machine of the class in question,which comprises a movable article-support normally inclined to thehorizontal, in combination with relatively stationary mechanismforodisplacing the articles from the support, and advancing, themthrough the outlet of the machine.

My invention .further relates to a machine for vending and dispensingnewspapers and the like, which comprises a casinghaving an outlet, anormally inclined, movable articlesupport in the casing', means formoving the .support as the articles are dispensed'therefrom, relativelystationary article-dispensing' mechanism toward which the support isgradually moved. a normally operative closure for the outlet, and means.controlled by the dispensinrineans, for temporarily displacingr theclosure.

My invention also relates to the provision of an article-support in:trending machine of the class described, which has means forresilient-ly supporting the articles upon the support proper.

ln addition. the invention includes certain novel details ofconstruction which will appear hereinafter.

rlhe object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive. andeflicient machine for vending: or dispensingr ne\vspa1')ers, sheetmaterials orother articles of substantially liat form which are usuallyarranged in piles or stacks and are dispensed by slidably removing fromthe pile or stack the topmost one of lthe articles, which may be coin orcheck-controlled or not, as desired, `which is so constructed that thepossibility of dispensing the articles therefrom otherwise than one at atime is practically eliminated, which, While positive and rapid inoperation will not tend to injure the articles being dispensed, which isextremely difficult of unauthorized operation, and which cannot easilybe injured or put out of order.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts, and in Which-` Figure l is a vertical section onthe line l-1 of Fig. 4 of an embodiment of my invention and comprisingseveral superposed, independently operable units; Fig'. 2 is a similarview on the line 2--2 of Fig. 4; Fig.

, 3 is another vertical section, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4; Fig. i is a`horizontal section on the linee-ai` of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a.fragmentary, vertical section showing a detail of construction.

Before proceeding to a more detailed cxi planation of my invention itshould be clearly understood that'while the machine is intendedprimarily for the vending of newspapers and periodicals, it can also beused for other purposes, and for the dispensing or sale of articles ofdiii'erentvkinds. l have found that in machines of the class under F T'discussion one of the greatest diihcultics encountered .is that fromtime to time more than one article will be dispensed. In the saleof"mcrchandise such as newspapers, Where the margin of pro-fit isextremely small, this fact constitutes an almost fatal defect, and to besuccessful, a machine of this kind must he so constriiicted that the'possibility stated. must be practically eliminated. .ln other words, themachine must operate with absolute certainty in that regard. A greatmany expediente have been proposed to prevent such accidental dispensingof more than. one article t a time, such as special feed regulators, thearrangement ofthe articles in separate compartments and many others.None ofthese however, in my opinion, ofi'crs a satisfactory solution ofthe problem. I have found however, that by providing" a normallyinclined support for the articles, that is, a support slanting given' teral,

port, t e gravita tional resistance to 'disthj1 L rictional cohesionbetween the adjacent ar joies"I providing the support `has been heproper inclination. Consequently, ythe tpmost article can' beeasily'slid from the stack, tov and through the outlet, withpractically'no possibility of carrying with under' it, to say noth- 'ingof those'below the latter. 'l' am awaregtliat it is not new in the art,to proyide' in a vending machine4 an inclined support for the /a'rticlesto be dispensed, but such "arrangement of the support has hitherto beenan accidental one, and, as far as I know, such inclined sup orts havealways beerlif'sttionary. The disensing mechanism itse stationaryrelative to the articlesupport, which should gradually move towardthedispensing mechanism as the articles are displaced from it.

My'invention therefore, resides primarily, inthe provision ofeiiectively stationary dispensing mechanism and a normally i .clinedarticle-support, which gradually advances toward the stationarydispensing mechanism as -`,the articles are advanced from the Vma-(permits an 'absolutely positive o eration, an requires no feedregulators or o her lguards against the dispensing of more than quearticle a't a time.-A

Referring more particularly to the drawings, tlie preferred embodimentof the vending machine, illustrated herewith, has a suitable metallic orother side we ls 10, a back 11, a bottom 12, and a top'` (n' shown). Thecasinghas a hinged front 1- provided with a plurality of transverse,.f`longated outlets the units comprising the machine. It will beunderstood that each machine may consist pfonie or more units to handlecorrespond- 1n paeiijs r lthe like. For purposes of simplicity I' shallhereafter describe but one of,X these The front of the `Celing' lmay,furthermore, 'be provided with`V a fries of windows 1'5A of glass orother suitab e transthe' mac ine to be viewed, 'sothat thepurehasc'rfpan see the contentsof'the casing.

, Withininie utter-,L

. constituting `at one side, ,is an' open framework'l havmga pluralityof cross'- bars 17,' xleach' provided 4yj'vi'th,'substantially central voffsets 18. Iny theseosetsfis mount'- egilfa4 vertical, channelshaped'memberg 19 a guide or bracket, as will appea-r hereinafter. A similarframework-'29, lsilocated at the' opposite s ide oi" the casing, naarthe opposite wall thereof, and like toward'the outletis greater thanVwardly extendin casing lconsisting of 14, one for each of one or morethan one different news-5 curely mounted in position. It has crossbars21, each provided'with a central offset or depression 22. Iii-these is.mounted a vertical, channel-shaped track o r `guide 23 corresponding tothe member 19 and disposed oppositely to the same.

provide runners 24 movably arranged within the channel-shaped tracks 19and 20,/l

and Vhaving at the ends, rollers 25 to reduce the friction and permitthe runners to slide freely-upwardly and downwardly within the tracks.f'The article-support proper, 26, c'onsists of a metallic or other plateortable, of suitable size and form.l Ks/shown for example, herewith,

it is ofitrapezoidal shape and is substantially smaller than the' crosssection of the casing. `It is ,carried bytwo laterally extending arms27, each firmly A screwed-or otherwise seclpc'd tothe table and' peratesuccessfully, must, 1n gencasing. They have the fm2-,extremitiesbifureat'ed and' provided. with 4bearing rollers 32 which engage vunderthe'arms 27 as is clearlyshown in,Figs'. 1 and 4.

The shaft 28 has near che end a downar'm,v 33, to which' is secured thelextremlty, ofa helical spring 34. The other end of the spring isattached to the extremity of a threaded ad'usting rod 35, which passesthrough a suita le opening of a bracket 36 secured to the frame 16.. Anadjusting nut 37 is mounted upon the' rod 35, so that-the tension ofthespring can-be regulated as desired. It will be understood that thespringv tends to pull the arm 33 lo rwa-rdly to rock the shaft 28,thereby swinging the'levers upwardly and tending to raise thearticle-support 26. Pivotally mounted upon the frame 16 is a latch 38adapted to engage the'adjacent arm 27 vto` against the tension of thespring 34 when itis desired to load the'vending machine, pointed. outmore particularly as will be hereinafter.

A slide 39 is arranged in juxtaposition to one of the crossbagrs of theframe 20 and is guidingly mountedto move ,in the'direction of its'lengthin' a bracket 40.carr1ed by the iframe'20 and in an opening 41 in astationary part 4210i the casing front.A The slide has at theforwardprojecting'end a ring or other suitable grip 43,.by means ofwhich it can be I nanipnlated. A helical spring 44 has the extremitiessecured respectively to the slide and to the frame `and tends to holdthe slide in a normal, re-

tracted position. Near. the rear end the slide is provided with spacedrecesses 45 and 46 between which it `has a plurality of ratchet teeth47. Mounted upon an upward y extension 48 .of the cross bar of theframe20 is a pivoted dog 49 having the lower end provided Withteeth 50;it is held in a substantially vertical position by the leaf spring 51fastened upon a lateral extension 52 of f with the ratchet teeth 47 andhas entered the f recess 45.

Similarly, when the slide is moving in a rearward direction, thismovement must be completed and the dog enter the recess 46 before theslide can again be advanced in a forward' direction. The pun pose ofthisr mechanism is to insure a complete forward and backward movement ofthe actuating member at each operation of f the' machine.

IThe frame 20 has at the front, a part 53 upon which is pivotallymounted a bellshaped lever` having a curved army 54 and a substantiallyvstraight arm 55. This lever constitutes a stop and'is held in a normalposition by a spring 56, the ends of lwhich engage the arm 54 and aprojection 57 of the frame. The spring tends 'normally to rockthe lever,to'cause the end of the arm 54 to enter a recess 58 of the operatingslide to lock the same against forward movement. lWhen the slide is inits normal, retracted position, a stud 59 thereonengages the arm 55 ofthe lever'and holds the same in an inoperative position, as is shown inthe upper part ofFig. 1. As soon as the forward movement ofthe slidebegins however, the stop lever is rocked .under the tension of itsspring, so that the end ofthe arm 54 engages in the recess 58 andfurther movement of the slide is prevented.

vMach unit of the machine is provided with \a suitable coin inlet 60,lthrough which the com or check can be introduced to release themechanism. The coin chute 61 is connected with the inlet 60 which islocated in' the hired part 42 of the casing front. The coin Achuteextends .inwardly and downwardly to a coin receiver 62 into which thecoin, after it has been. released, passes, as will be describedhereinafter. The coin chute.hasextendinginwardly from the upvper edge,an arcuate `vvslot 63 in which is located a stud 64 carried by the arm55 of the lever. The slot '63 permits the rocking movement of the stopby reason of which the end ofthe arm 54 can enter the recess 58. lrVhena coin has been introduced into the chute however, it assumes a positionin the same in engagement with the stud 64 and thus prevents the rockingmovement of the lever when the operating slide is drawn forward from thecasing, whereby the 'operation of the machine is then possible. l/Vhenthe slide approaches its extreme outward position (see Figs. vl and 2),aspring cam 65, which also serves another purpose to be explainedhereinafter, engages the beveled end 66 of a finger 67 pivotally mountedupon the coin chute and constituting a release, which permits the cointo pass beyond the stud 64, escape from the chute 61, and enter the coinreceiver 62. The finger 67 is held/in a normal position by means of aspring 68 attached to a lug thereof, and to the coin chute. The detailsof construction of the coin release, as well as others of the parts ofthe coin controlled mechanism, are not shown ordescribed in full herein,as they form no part of the present invention and may be of anypreferred construction.,

Extending transversely across the casing is a shaft 69 journaled inbearings 70 and 71 formed integral with, or rigidly secured upon theframes 16 and 20. The shaft ex# tends at one end beyond the bearing 71and has loosely mounted thereon a gear 72. A ratchet'73 is rigidlysecured upon the end of the shaft, beyond the gear. A pawl 74 ispivotally mounted upon the gear, which likewise is provided with aspring 75 engaging the pawl and tending normally to force the saine intooperative relation with the ratchet.

The pawl has au extension or linger 76 which is engaged by a stud 77 ofthe slide 39 when the slide is 1n a normal, retracted position. When soarranged, the stud serves to hold the pawl disengaged from the ratchet73. Rigidly secured upon the operating shaft, intermediate the endsthereof, are two or more toothed disks 78 adapted to engage the topmostof the articles upon the support, and, when the shaft is rotated, toadvance the same toward the outlet. The article support is provided witha pair of spring strips 79 preferably secured at their front ends nearthe forward edge of the supporting table 26, and having at their reare-xtremities slots S which receive the periplr The purpose of thesestrips is to insure an efiicient contact between the advancing disks78.and the articles, when practically all of ,themhave been dispensed,andfwhen but one or two are left upon the table.. By resilientlysupporting the last article slightly above the surface ofthe table theteeth of the disks can easily penetrate and engage the article toadvance .it from the casing.

In the operation of the machine, as soon as the operating slide beginsto move in a forward direction, the. pawl 74 is released and engages theratchet 73, so that the ro tary motion of the gear 72 transmitted to itby a rack section 81 of the slide is in turn 4.transmitted to theratchet 73, so that the Shaft 69 is rotated and the disks 78 slide thetopmost article toward the outlet opening at the front of the casing.The parts .are so arranged that when the forward movement of the slideis completed the article has been advanced an appreciable distancethrough the opening 14, as shown in Fig'. 2, and can be grasped by thepurchaser and drawn all the way out Without diliiculty.

In drawing the paper all the way from the casing the disks 7 8 of coursecontinue to revolve, but this further movement does not adect the shaft69, owing to the loose mount'- ing of the gear upon the shaft, and thepawl arrangement which permits the ratchet to rotate freely in onedirection. Similarly, the return movement of the operating slide to itsinitial position does not affect the shaft in any way, owing to theprovision of the pawl and ratchet and loose gear.

In order to charge the machine the hinged front 13 of the casing isopened and `the article-support is manually lowered against the tensionof the spring 34 until the latch 38 can be engaged with one of the arms27 .to hold the table in depressed position. The desired number ofnewspapers or other articles is then placed in a stack or pile upon' thearticle support, with the front of the stack substantially fiushwith theforward 'edge of the support. The latter is then released by displacingthe latch and the table then rises until the topmost'article engages thetoothed dispensing disk`78.` It will be understood that as `the articlesare dispensed from the machine one by one, the table continuesautomaticallyr to rise so that the relatively stationary dispensingmechanisrn isalways iniv operative relation to the articles upon thesupport.

-l and movably mounted by means of hinges 83, upon the lower inclinededge 84 ofn the oiening. Above the latter I provide an ina plate securedwithin the front ofthe casing, at the upper edge of the opening, andextending longitudinally thereof. The der'dly-extending defiector `85consisting of' Hector has the inner edge upwardly curved and serves todirect the articles to be dispensed, t'o the opening 14, should suchaction be necessary. The inner edge 86 of the shutter is preferablybeaded. It has at one end rigidly secured thereto a pair of spacedfingers 87 between which is received a stud orprojection 88, at the endof a pivotedV lever arm 89 movably mounted by means of a pivot screw 90upon a boss 91 of the frame 20. A lever 92 is similarly mounted to rockupon the boss 91, and yhas vat the respective ends, studs 93 and 94.-The former engages the lever arm 89 at the lower edge thereof, so thatif the opposite end of the lever 92 is depressed, the lever arm 89 willbe swung upwardly and will thus correspondingly rock the shutter into aninoperative position, leaving the opening 14 clear. A strip spring 95secured to the frame 20, extends rearwardly, diagonally, across thelength of the lever 92 and is so arranged that if the rear end of thelever is depressed the 'stud 94 will engage the'spring, which will thenresist the rocking of the lever.

The spring cam G5 is secured to the slide 39, by means of a plate 9Gscrewed or otherwise fastened in position. The forward, upwardlyinclined portion of the'spring cam is free and can be displaced againstits own tension. As tlie slide 37 moves forward in the operation of themachine, the spring cam engagesfthe stud 94 at the inner end of thelever MIJ-and depresses the same so that `the shutter will be displacedfrom the opening, as has already been described, so that the newspaper97 or other article being dis pensed can pass freely through theopening. As the movement of the slide continues, the stud 94 will ridealong the spring cam 65 and pass beyond the rear end thereof, whereuponthe spring 95 will return the lever to its normal position. This wouldpermit the shutter, again to obstruct the opening 14, were it lnot forthe fact that the newspaper now projects through the opening, andprevents the closure from returning to its initial position until thepurchaser has drawn the article entirely from the machine. The shutterthus again securely obstructs the opening. (See Fig. 5.)

The v4coin receiver 62 at the lower end terminates in two branchesv 98and 99 respectively. The rst of these is designed to direct the coin tothe proper coin receptacle (not shown), of the casing. The passage 99serves to return the coin to the purchaser, in the event that all of thenewspapers or other articles within the casing have been dispensed.Pivotally mounted at the junction of the passages 98 and 99by means of apivot pin or spindle 100, is a vane 101.

It is held in a normal position extending 1,1ae,eoe v the lever arm israised, the rod 104e is cor-v respondingly actuated to swing the vane101 against the tension ofthe spring 102, into the position indicated indotted outline in Fig. 5, that is, into a position obstructing thepassage 99, -so that the coin or check can pass from the coin receiver,to the receptacle within the casing. The arrangement of the parts issuch that if a coin is introduced into the machine after all thearticles have Ibeen dispensed therefrom, the vane 101 will reti'lrn toits initial or normal position, before the coin has been released by thefinger 67, and the vane will thus serve to direct the coin into thepassage 99, through which it can pass to a return opening (not shown),in the front of the casing, whence the intending purchaser can recoverit. This operation is due tolthe fact that the lever arm. 89 ismaintained in a raised position by the newspaper or other article 99,passing through the opening 14, andii" a coin has been introduced intothe machine when no article remains therein,`1the shutter 82 returns toa closed position, and ,with it the lever arm 89, to its normalposition, as soon as the spring cam 65 has passed .beyond the stud 94.'Phaty is, before. the finger 67 has released the coin in the coinchute. Accordingly, the coi n,. asV v@on as ithas been released, willpass intij the, coin receiver and into the coin return passage 99, afterthe vane 101 has" returned to its initial o r normal position, as isshown in Fig. y5.

1t will bev understood that in my vending machine the casing thereof isprovided with an outlet opening having a definite position,notwithstanding that the normally inclined article-support 1s movable,and consequently the dispensing mechanism must have relatiivelyfixedrela'tion to the outlet and likewise to "the .topmost article ofthe stack upon l' the support, which is to be advanced through theoutlet. lThe support automatically adjusts itself as the articles areadvanced one by one through the outlet, by the dispensing mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, I.

claim as new and desire to secure by Let- 'ters Patent:

l.- A vending machine having a 'delivery opening,A anA article-support,a `dispensing mechanism engaging the articles on the support, means tmoive said supportL toward said dispensing "inechanlsmh a 'memberadapted to reciprocate, engaging said dispensing mechanism, meansnormally locking said member, means associated with said reciprocatingmember, whereby the same cannot be retracted until it moves apredetermined distance, and means for restoring said reciprocatingmember to its normal p0- sition.

2. A vending machine having a delivery opening, an article-support, adispensing mechanism engaging the uppermost article on said support,means automatically moving said support toward said article-dispensingmechanism, and means for operating said dispensing mechanism, comprisinga slide, means normally locking the movement of said slide, a connectionoperable only in one direction from said slide to said dispensingmechanism, means for rendering said connection operative or inoperative,means preventing the reversal of the movement of said slide before thesame has reached al predetermined position, and resilient means forrestoring 'saidl slideto its normal position` 8. A vending machinehaving a delivery opening, a member normally closing said epening, anarticle-support, a rotatably mounted.' dispensing mechanism adapted toengage the uppermost article on said sup-` port, means tending to movesaid support toward said dispensing mechanism, a slide mounted toreciprocate, a mechanism normally locking the, movement of said slide,means associated with said slide, whereby the same cannot be retracteduntil said slide moves througha predetermined distance, meanstransmitting the movement of said slide to said dispensing mechanism,means associated with said transmitting means, whereby the saiddispensipg mechanism is rotated only in a predetermined direction, andmeansl connecting said slide to said member closing the opening, wherebywhen said slide is operated to operate said d ispensing mechanism, saidmember is d1splaced to permit the delivery ot anarticle through saidopening.

4. vending machine having a delivery opening,l a member pivotallymounted in said opening and normally closing the same,

'an art1cle-support, a rotatably mounted dispensing mechanism normallyengaging theuppermost article on said support, means for moving saidsupport toward said dispensing mechanism, a rack mounted to slide, meanslocking said slide' in a predetermined position, a gear engaging saidrack and said dispensing mechanism, means connecting said gear to saiddispensing mecha-l nisinwhen' the same is rotated in a predetermineddirection by said rack, means for restoring said rack to its normalposition, means controlling the movement of said rack, whereby said rackmust reach predetermined positions before it can be re- `versed in itsmovement,' and means onnectname to this specification n 'the presence ofing said pivotally mollmteddmemlae'r il? sagd two subscribing witnesses.y delivery opennv wtl sai rac W ere y ysaid member is tpelratted whensaid rack ils OMAR J HQTALING' 5 moved,'substanta11y aswand for thepurpose -Witnesses'z se't forth. v BENEDICT JoFFE,

lIn testimony 'whereof I have'signed my PHILII' D. ROLLHAUS.

